Russia ready to help searching for solution to Nagorno-Karabakh issue — Lavrov

May 25, 2015, 14:34 UTC+3MOSCOW"There is a realistic basis for concluding agreements. Everybody agrees with that. Now it is important to translate this understanding into the language of specific formulas," Lavrov said

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. The understandings regarding the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue must be translated into the language of specific formulas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov on Monday.

"Nobody denies the fact that the conflict has lasted for too long," he said, speaking about Nagorno-Karabakh, which is the subject of an unresolved dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"There is a realistic basis for concluding agreements. Everybody agrees with that. Now it is important to translate this understanding into the language of specific formulas," he said adding that this is usually "not the easiest matter."

In comments to talks in Moscow with his Azerbaijan’s counterpart, Lavrov said the sides discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh issue on Sunday and in particular the effort made over the past years, including as part of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs - Russia, the United States and France.

Lavrov has expressed cautious but also strengthening optimism about the situation.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a majority Armenian region within Azerbaijan that is de facto independent. The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated after both Armenia and Azerbaijan obtained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By the end of 1993, the conflict had caused thousands of casualties and created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides. An unofficial ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994. Since then, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been holding negotiations mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) Minsk Group on the region's disputed status.